Chapter Four

The Truth.

" Alright sport. It seems as though we've come to another halt. Dionyasses park. This place was built just for Lamb you know. It was her get away, somewhere she brought her friends to relax and spoiled them. Then one day the pipes ruptured and this whole place got burried under water. Lamb wasn't too happy about that." Sinclair started. " You'll need to start the train up from that booth over there. Just one more stop and you can get Elanor. " Sinclair said over the radio to Delta as he exited the train. " Be careful, I saw some movement in the booth."

Delta looked around the train station. It looked like the others. Sinclair had told him that he needed to start the train, but one thing he learned was it was never that easy. There was some static and then another transmission came through.

"H-hello. Oh finally somebody else. Wait..it's...it's you? Delta.. but I thought you were... Oh none of that matters now. My name is stanley. You see... I have a little bit of a problem, and I was wondering if you could help me out. " He began. " Well I can see that you're stuck so.. if ya help me out I'll start the train for ya no problems. Well you see.. a while back when the whole accident here at this park happened there was a story goin' round that it was about me or that I had involvement.. and as you can see that ain't sittin' well with Lamb so if ya could just find them little girls and wipe their memories so that nothing get's out that people thought it was me. 'Course it wasn't I mean.. I worked here but.. ya." he spoke quickly. " Just do that and I'll start the train for ya no problem. Honest!" Stanely said trying to convince Delta.

" Hm..I don't trust this Stanely. There seems to be something he's not telling us, but, if it gets the train moving again you should probably do what he asks. " Sinclair said over the radio.

Delta remained silent but made his way into the park signaling to Stanley that he would do it. As he wondered inside he looked around and saw the entrance hall. There were few vending machine's and health stations. Delta always took note of these now so that if he were to ever battle the Spilcers, Big Daddies or even the Big Sister's, he made sure there was materials he may need close by.

" Stanley Poole.. I remember him. He used to work here for Lamb. Though I also heard of the some bad deeds that he did. Sneaky he was. That's why we need to keep our eyes open and be extra vigilante around this man. Something's not sitting right with me. " Sinclair said warning Delta.

"Delta. It seems you have found your way into my once sacred get away. Every step you take is an insult. " Lamb said to him through the radio.

"Everything we do is an insult to her. Good job Delta, carry on I hope she's insulted." Sinclair said over the radio.

Delta despised that woman for everythig she did to him. He was glad that he was insulting her, he would do it over and over again. He was going to do anything he could to get closer to Elenor. Delta has been through so much and he had even been forced to kill himself. She would pay, and he would make sure of it.

Shepard and her team made their way through the complex until they stopped at a dead end. On the wall there was writing in white paint that read ' Lamb Is Watching you'. " Who the hell is Lamb?" Jack said examining the writing.

There was a gate that was lowered in front of them blocking their path. Jack and Samara moved into formation to cover Shepard and make sure nothing snuck up on them. Moving closer to the gate Shepard inspected it closer. " It looks as though this thing has a mechanisim that will open it. It moves on wheels and pully systems." Shepard said informing the others. " I haven't seen something made like this...well ever. Only in the old videos they used to show us about the aging of our race and the ways our people used to live." Shepard said taking a step back examining what seemed to be an ancient artifcat in front of her.

" Hey Shepard, there's some kind of booth over here with panels and buttons. The switch has to be in here somewhere. " Jack said examining what seemed to be a control booth located to the side of the lowered gate.

"Good work Jack." Shepard said with a smirk as she made her way into the control booth with Jack and Samara. Shepard examined the lay out in front of her. There was a panel with odd buttons and levers and on the wall mounted some T.V screens that had a greyed picture on them with what looked like an old radio tower and a message saying stand-by. Shepard felt like she was in one of the old video's that they used to show them when they learned about human's and how they used to live.

" I think it's this one here." Jack said as she reached for a lever and pulled it. The door that led into the control booth locked and the lights went out. " Ah shit." Jack said as she reached for her shotgun and scanned the area. There was a panel of glass in front of them that sheowed a clear view of the gate and where they had come from.

All of a sudden a face appeared on the screen followed by a voice.

" Ah, so you are the three intruders that have been causing rucus." the voice said. It was a woman, the one dislplayed on the screen in front of them.

Shepard was anxious for answers and quickly addressed the woman on the screen. " Finally somebody to talk to. Maybe you could help us. I'm Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy. Somehow.. me and my team ended up in this place and we're lost. I was hoping you would be able to show us the way out so that we could get back to our ship." Shepard said, explaining their situation.

" Tell me, does anyone from your ship know where you are?" The woman asked examining the people in front of her.

" No. We were on a mission when we ended up here and I didn't get a chance to inform them." Shepard answered.

" Well then, it is imparitive you know there is no way out of Rapture." The woman said.

"What the hell are you talking about there's no way out?" Shepard asked aggressivly.

"You three are intruders in my home. You will die here." the woman answered.

" Listen Lady, I don't know who you are but I don't take threats kindly. You either tell us the way out or I'm going to find you and make you." Shepard said now pointing at the screen.

The woman then began to laugh, almost maniacally. " I highly doubt that, Commander Shepard. I don' t know who you are or where you came from. You carry a strange looking creature with you. You are inded interesting specimen's. Well, the one in blue really. Is that paint all over her body? No matter, she will be spared and used to help in aiding us in our goal to reach our glorious Utopia. As for you Commander Shepard, you and that other woman will die here. So sorry you're going to die, it would have been nice to have someone sane to talk to, but I've just so much work to do." the woman explained. As she was explaiing there were three people on the outside of the glass. One of them fired a shot gun shattering the glass instantly while Shepard and her team moved for cover.

"I'm coming for you lady, and when I find you, you'll regret this. " Shepard threatened as the woman just smirked.

"Keep the blue one alive." she said to the people attacking them. " Good-bye , Commander Shepard." The screen went grey again and the turned their attention to the attackers.

Shepard pulled out her assault rifle and peered out of cover firing at the people attacking them. She was able to take them out efficiently with Jack's help while Samara stood with a wall of Biotic force to protect her and the child.

When the others were dead Shepard stood and put her gun away with a sigh. " Come on we have to move." she said as the others nodded. Shepard jumped over the control panel and broken glass since the door was locked. Once Jack and Samara were over they walked down their new path.

Eventually the path opened up to what appeared to be a train station. " Let's get in the train." Shepard said oddly as they ran towards it. It was odd to see a train of all things. Running up onto the platform they pryed open the door and entered the cart sealing the door behind them. They searched the cart to make sure there was nobody else on it but stopped at the clicking sound of a gun being cocked.

" Now stop right there all of ya, or I'll pull the trigger." a male voice said. The three women slowly turned around and faced the man. He was wearing what seemed to be a suit and pointing a gun at them. Shepard saw the gun in his hand and recognized it as a... revolver? But.. those were extremely old guns and only seen in museums back on Earth from the olden days.

Shepard held up her hands. " Look, we're not here to kill anyone we just want some answers." she said to the man standing in front of her. Unlike the other people they had seen this one seemed..normal. His skin and face wasn't disfigured and he spoke properly.

"Who are ya?" the man asked still holding his gun up.

Shepard wasn't afraid. That gun wouldn't cause them any harm. Not with their kinetic barriers and shields up. " I'm Commander Shepard. These are my teammates Samara and Jack. We don't want to hurt you." she explained.

" Speak for yourself." Jack muttered.

Shepard just gave her a look. " Look, we don't know where we are or how we got here. We just want to get out." she said to the man.

He looked at them hesitantly, but slowly lowered his gun. " Names Sinclair. You don't look like anyone I've ever seen before. I don't recognize what you're wearing and.. what is that thing?" he said referring to Samara.

Shepard raised her eye brow. " That's Samara, she's an Asari."

"What's an Asari?" he asked. The others stood shocked.

"You have never heard of the Asari race before.?" Samara asked the man in front of them. He shook his head. " We are one of the main council races. One of the first to find the Citadel and work to establish galatic peace." she explained. The man still had a dumb look on his face.

Shepard sighed. " Look, that's not important right now. What's important is where we are and how the hell we get out of here. "

"You're in Rapture doll. Deep in the Atlantic Ocean far from any kind of deection. It's amazing how you got in here." he started holstering his gun and lighting up a cigarette.

"Atlantic Ocean?" Shepard questioned. " As in.. the Atlantic ocean that exists on Earth?"

The man gave her a weird look. " Yes Earth. Where else would we be except here?" he said taking a drag from his smoke. The three females all exchanged looks with each other. " Y'all are a weird bunch that's for sure. Showing up in this place, not knowin' how you got here and then you give each other looks after finding out you're on Earth... are you sure ya'll are okay?" the man asked.

" Hold on a minute, you're speaking as though Earth is the only planet that people live on." Shepard started, trying hard to sort out the situation.

Sinclair raised an eyebrow. " Are you suggestin' that there is life on other planets?" he asked her.

Shepard didn't answer at first and just gave him a look. "You're kidding me right?" she said.

"Look doll, there's a lot of things I do, but when it comes to serious situations like this I ain't jokin' around." he explained. " Look I don't know what the war did to ya'll up there thinkin' we live on different planets and such, but this is only 1967, don't ya think it's too early to be thinkin' craziness. Ya'll should be focusin' on cleaning up the mess." he took another drag.

All three women nearly fell to the ground in shock. " Hold on there cowbody, did you just say 1967 as in the year 1967?" Jack said stepping forward.

Sinclair raised an eyebrow. " What else would I mean by it? Don't tell me ya'll don't even know what year it is." he said slowly.

" It is the year 2335." Samara informed him.

The man nearly fell off of his seat at what the woman said. "Are you out of your minds!" he shouted. " 2335! Now, there's some nutbags down here but even they know it's 1967!" he nearly shouted taking an extensivly long drag from his cigarette.

"Hold on a second... let me get this straight. You're telling us that we're in the year 1967, in an underground city called Rapture and there's no way out?" Shepard said almost feeling as though her head was spinning. She's heard some crazy things before, hell, she even fought off machines that could think for themselves, but this...this was just ridiculous.

" Well now, I never said there wasn't a way out. But it's damn near impossible." he stated " Now, you are in the year 1967 whether you chose to believe so or not. You are underwater in a city called Rapture and you are always inches away from death in this place." he stated.

"No way.. " Jack said just as shocked as the rest of them. Samara was silent and Shepard was still trying to sort through everything.

"Now, how did ya'll get in here anyway?" he asked, now wanting some answers for himself.

'My team and I were investigating some disturbances on the planet Caleston. This mercenary group called The Blue Suns were up to illeagal activity. And, after defeating them all we scavenged through some crates and came across this...this bottle of liquid. The liquid was continuously changing colours and flashing. I bent down to grab it and the next thing I know I we wake up here." Shepard finished explaining the situation.

" Hm, sounds to me like you found a teleportation plasmid. " he stated.

"Yes, plasmid, that's what it read on the crate." Samara added.

"Mhmm, those things are damn near rare but very powerful." he said.

"So, let me get this straight. We were teleported here?" Jack asked.

"Seems that way. But, not only were you teleported to a different place, but a whole different time. Judging by the year you gave me, it appears back in time would be an accurate guess. " Sinclair stated.

Jack sat down on one of the seats and held her head. Samara closed her eyes, seemingly meditating on the information she had recieved while Shepard just stood there.

The little girl on Samara's back fidgeted and then got down standing behind her leg. She looked over at Sinclair but didn't say anything, just stayed partially hidden behind Samara holding the syringe.

Sinclair's eyes traveled over to the little girl. " Jesus Murphey, where did you find her?" he asked in a worried tone.

" We saved her from a metal beast." Samara stated placing her hand ontop of the child's head.

"A big daddy?" Sinclair said and then leaned back with a small laugh. " That child was in no danger. " he stated.

"Big daddy? Is that what those things are called?" Shepard asked

"Yes mamme. Big Daddies are strong and heavily armed. Each one of them has a little sister and they will protect their little sisters with their lives. " he explained. " In other words, that there little girl, a little sister, would have been perfectly fine had her Big Daddy stayed alive."

"Samara looked down at the little girl beside her. " We killed her guardian and then took her with us. " she said almost sadly." She would have been just fine."

"Well, I wouldn't say that. Had the splicers managed to kill off that Big Daddy, this here little girl would have been in lots of danger." he added. " Those pyscho's go crazy for ADAM and those little girls are jam packed with them."

"What the hell are splicers? And who's Adam?" Jack asked, obviously confused with all this information.

Sinclair let out a small laugh. " You really aren't from here." he stated leaning back in his seat and cossing one leg over the other." It's more like what than who. ADAM is a substance found only in a particular type of sea slug. ADAM enables people to instantly modify their own genes, using a process called Splicing. Splicing installs powerful genetic alterations in the human body and mind in the form of Plasmids. Much like the one you guys found to end up here." he paused. " There is also something else used called Gene tonics. Both of these have the potential to make the user terribly intelligent, incredibly powerful and, if overused, homicidally insane. Those people you see running around out there, no doubt attacking you , are called Splicers." he informed them. " They will kill for ADAM, they will kill for no reason at all, and now they account for almost all of Rapture's population."

" So what do the little girls have to do with anything? " Shepard asked crossing her arms.

"Well, Adam is collected from dead splicers by the little sisters. Inside each of them there is one of those sea slugs that separate the ADAM from the body they consume, so the ADAM can be reused. Since they must carry the valuable ADAM inside themselves, without protection these little sisters are vulnerable to attacks by Splicers. So, they seek out guardians, the big daddies, to protect them while they gather ADAM." he finished explaining taking out another cigarette.

"That is sick." Jack said. " I know what it's like to be experimented on as a child and I'll kill anyone who does it to others!" she said angrily.

Shepard looked over at Jack who was upset. Shepard felt bad for her, she knew what she went through and went with her to Pragnia to destroy the base where they experimented on her. She could understand the hatred inside her.

" What happened here?" Shepard asked looking to Sinclair for more answers.

Taking a drag from his cigarette he blew out the smoke and sighed. " Rapture was founded to allow the best and brightest of humanity to do their brilliant work without being bothered by the government, religion or the mediocre. But the " every man for himself" philosophy led to war, fueled by the new discovered substance called ADAM that allowed everyone to rewrite their DNA. " he said summerizing the rise and fall of Rapture.

" There was this woman.. she spoke to us through the T.V and she told us that this was her home and we were going to die here." Samara said. " Who was she."

Sinclair sighed. " That, was Dr. Lamb. She is partly the reason Rapture fell. The reason for the experimentations on the little sisters. Her and Andrew Ryan, the creator and invisionary of Rapture, never saw eye-to-eye and led to the outbreak of the war." he explained. " Now, as I was saying before there is one way out but only she has the key to get to it and you'll have to go through her to get it."

Shepard took out her pistol and cocked it. " Well, if that's all it takes then we'll do it." she said intimidatingly.

"Well, you're all armed to the teeth and don't look like people to play around with, but you're out of your comfort zone here. This is the past, things are different." he explained. " Your weapons look powerful, what do they use for ammunition?"

"Thermal clips..." Shepard said slowly. " Which also means if we run out, there's no way we're going to be able to reload."

"Exactly. You're gunna need a weapon that you'll be able to reload whenever." he started. " You'll find guns and weapons on the bodies of dead Splicers, or you could always kill them for it.' he said with a shrug. " You folks look strong. You took on a Big Daddy and there's not one scratch on you. Whatever weapons those are, they're powerful. But as I said before, these splicers all have mutated DNA giving them extraordinary powers so -" Sinclair was cut short as his eyes fell on Samara and Jack who were now glowing blue. " Well now, looks like you gals will be just fine. " he added.

" Right well, we should leave the little girl here. " Shepard said moving towards the door.

"Woah woah, wait a minute. You're going to leave the little sister with me?" he said looking over at the glowing girl.

"Why is that a problem?" Shepard asked.

"Didn't you hear me? The Splicers look for these girls and if they see her in here they'll kill me and wreck the train then none of us get no where. And don't even get me started on a Big Daddy findin' her." he complained.

" Look, we're still in unknown territory and don't know exactly what we're up against. We can't have a little girl as valuable as her running around with us. She stays." Shepard said in her intimidating tone.

Sinclair sighed. " Alright fine. But wait, before you go there's something you should know. There's someone out there, someone I'm helping, well..we're helping each other. His name is Delta. His plowing through Rapture looking for his daughter. Lamb seperated them ten years ago, made him kill himself. I don't know how he came back but he did, and he needs his daughter or he won't survive." Sinclair started. " If you see him out there, please, help him. I'll radio him and let him know you're coming. Right now he's working on a way to get this train movin' again. Here take this, it's a radio we'll be able to communicate with each other through it." he said handing each of them a small comm unit.

Samara layed the little girl down and then followed Shepard off of the train. " Oh, one more thing!" Sinclair called afte them. " Delta, well.. he's a big daddy." he added.

" What? He's one of those monsters?" Samara asked.

" Yes, but he's... different. Smarter.. he's a different kind of Big Daddy. You'll know when you see him he doesn't look like the other ones. He's a good guy, one of us. " Sinclari tried to explain.

Shepard sighed. " Alright, we'll find this.. Delta and help him get the train moving again. Then we're going after Lamb and getting the hell out of here. " Shepard said as the others nodded and Sinclair closed the train door. Shepard and her team moved deeper into Dionyasses park. Sinclair sat down and looked at the little sister on one of the seats. She was just silent and staring at him with a derranged smile.